Is San Francisco State University Worth It?

San Francisco State gives you a solid financial return, especially given how low the debt runs. Median debt sits at $15,371 against median earnings of $68,077 a decade out, so you're borrowing less than a single year's pay for most graduates. That ratio is the strongest thing this school has going for it.

Your major decides almost everything here. Nursing graduates clear six figures, roughly $43,000 more per year than the next-best program, computer engineering. That gap is enormous, and it tracks the Bay Area demand for both nurses and tech workers. Computer science, civil engineering, and electrical engineering all land in the mid-to-high $60,000s with debt loads under $18,000. If you're aiming at any of these five fields, the math works cleanly.

The risk is finishing. A 50 percent graduation rate means half of you won't have a degree in the expected window, and the low debt figures only help if you actually cross the finish line. Retention at 84 percent is healthier, so the drop-off comes later. San Francisco's cost of living also eats into those salaries in ways the earnings numbers don't show. $68,000 stretches further in most of the country than it does here.

The net price tiers reward lower-income families. If your family earns under $30,000, you pay about $9,300 a year, well under half of what families over $110,000 pay. The jump between the $48-75k and $75-110k brackets is the steepest, so middle-income families feel the squeeze most.

This school fits you if you're targeting nursing or engineering and can commit to graduating. Look elsewhere if you're undecided or drawn to lower-paying majors, since only these top programs have data proving the payoff.